Rob Brydon manages to soar in Trevor Nunn's poorly paced West End production of Alan Ayckbourn's A Chorus of Disapproval.
An amateur operatic society prepare for their production of 'The Beggar's Opera' in this 1984 work by Alan Ayckbourn. It deals with issues of sex, social interaction and loss, and is peppered with moments of Ayckbourn’s trademark ingenious farce. It is not Ayckbourn's best work, but neither is this plodding revival Trevor Nunn's.
The chief problem is pace, more specifically the lack of it, and Nunn’s languid treatment of the piece leaves a lot to be desired. The play’s driving force is the arrival of young widower Guy Jones to the operatic society. Jones, played rather blandly by Nigel Harman, proves to be something of a halfwit. He enters blindly into affairs with two women in the society (note clever parallel with ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ itself), one a fully signed up swinger, the other the director’s wife, Hannah. He also gets caught up in shady dealings over the price of a piece of land owned by one company member, which two others (the husbands of the women he’s romancing) wish to buy. These issues, coupled with the paucity of young men in the society, propel Jones from bit-part to leading man in the space of a few weeks. They also prove to be his downfall, leaving him largely ostracised by the end of the play.
Jones' fellow cast members provide more memorable performances, particularly Georgia Brown as feisty stage-manager Bridget, and the ever-reliable Susan Tracy, who gives a delicious comic turn as the dipsomaniacal Mrs Huntley-Pike. However, it is Rob Brydon as the society's beleaguered director, the proudly Welsh Dafydd ap Llewellyn, who keeps it all going. Not only does Brydon draw laughs from even the most timid of jokes, but also he gives us a real man for whom amateur dramatics means more than anything in real life. This is so much the case that Dafydd can call Jones a bastard when he hears of his affair with Hannah, but embrace him after a he’s saved the society by giving a successful performance at short notice.
Both Brydon and the piece itself are at their best at the play’s climax. This occurs during the society’s technical rehearsal as Brydon flits about repositioning both Jones and Hannah (who is being dumped by the former) as he battles with his vertigo-challenged lighting designer and an increasingly inappropriate array of lighting states. Whilst undoubtedly a highlight, this is something of missed opportunity. Despite the guffaws elicited by Brydon’s excellent delivery the timing of the whole scene is just slightly off, a stark reminder that in farce every second counts.
There are some excellent lines and, as always with Ayckbourn, profound insights into the workings of provincial society, but thanks to its pacing, this West End production, isn't quite there. 
A Chorus of Disapproval runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 5th January 2013.
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